Heretofore, it has been accepted practice to provide lever means fixedly secured to the throttle shaft of a throttle valve arrangement whereby, upon rotation of the lever means corresponding opening and/or closing movement of the throttle valve is accomplished.
Because of, among other things, safety considerations such lever means have been provided with a ball-type connecting portion for connection to associated throttle actuating linkage. The provision of such a ball-type connecting means serves to automatically compensate for such conditions as, for example, some misalignment with the associated throttle actuating linkage without any undesirable attendant binding action or the like.
Further, in the prior art, it was accepted practice to provide such a ball-type connecting means as in the form of a pin-like member carrying, at one axial end thereof, a spherical or ball-like portion. The body or the shank portion of the pin-like member would be fixedly secured through and in a related aperture formed in the throttle lever while the remainder of the pin-like body portion would extend a substantial distance laterally of the throttle lever means as to have the spherical or ball-like portion spaced a substantial distance laterally away from the lever means thereby providing for the space necessary to enable the associated throttle actuating linkage means to be operatively connected to the spherical or ball-like portion and yet avoid undesirable engagement with the remaining portion of the throttle lever means or other structure in the same general vicinity.
It has been discovered that because of the substantial distance at which the spherical or ball-like portion was laterally displaced from the body of the throttle lever there is force or moment couple experienced by lever portion supporting the generally laterally extending pin-like member. If in the throttle lever system there should arise a condition wherein an abnormal resistance to rotation is experienced and concomitantly an abnormally great force is applied to the spherical or ball-like portion as via the throttle actuating linkage connected thereto, the throttle lever could experience a twisting action which could decidedly alter or effect the otherwise desired operation of such throttle lever means.
Accordingly, the invention as herein disclosed is primarily directed to the solution of the aforestated and other related and attendant problems.